Posts Tagged ‘cast iron’

When you think of the colonial time period, many people will picture hand-crafted items, from tables and chairs to dressers and bed frames. Tools were hand-forged out of cast iron, and the time and care it took to create these items can be seen in every strike of the hammer and anvil.

Cast iron is the metal of choice when it came to creating everything from door handles and furniture hardware to pots and pans and stoves and everything in between. These were generally very simple designs, which still took hours to make despite the simplicity. The metal would have to be constantly heated, cooled, and re-heated between strikes to ensure its strength and durability as well as to create just the right angles for everything.

Coat hooks were one thing created from cast iron that could be decorative, but nothing too elaborate. Single hook designs were much more common than double hooks, and the backplate, or piece that attached to the wall, was often the decorative element. Designs were usually just shapes, such as hearts, diamonds and spades, and would either be a solid piece or just an outline.

The strength of the hooks may seem to vary based on the thickness, but the fact of the matter is that these hooks were crafted so precisely that they can hold immense amounts of weight, even if it doesn’t seem that way. There is one double hook option available, and it is very delicate in appearance but still quite strong. If you are more interested in a hook that shows its strength while still being decorative, try one of the scroll hook designs.

The hooks vary in size, and can add the perfect touch of style and functionality to any home or business and will last for generations. We include the necessary cast iron screws to securely attaché these to any wall.

Well, this is probably the most basic drawer handle we’ve featured yet, and the oldest to boot. This piece was in the same box as the really old door handle, and I’m willing to bet that these two pieces came from the same place. Of course, we still don’t know exactly when or where they are from, but it’s been fun guessing and creating histories for these two pieces.

This one, we have decided, is more in the range of 120 years old, and was used on an older model of cabinetry, similar to a more primitive filing cabinet. It was three drawers high, made of solid, sturdy wood, and was used to store the store’s books; anything from receipt books, credit logs, inventory lists, and the like. A cabinet like that would have needed a sturdy handle on it, yet one that was easy to remove and repair if it broke.

This handle is made of cast iron, which despite it’s weight, was a very popular choice for cabinetry hardware in it’s day. It was easy to create, and therefore easy and affordable to repair, and probably the most durable metal out there when cared for properly. It’s simple construction allowed the handle itself to be removed easily for proper cleaning and maintenance.

This piece, with it’s simplistic twisted design, while be extremely easy for us to get ready to mold, as the deconstruction process is extremely short. The three piece design makes it even easier to install in any piece in your home or business, and would be a great accent piece on even the most modern piece of furniture. This piece will be offered in a variety of finishes to satisfy even the most sophist aced decorator’s palette. Polished brass probably will not be offered; I don’t think the design suits that finish very well at all.

We did some treasure hunting over this past Thanksgiving while we were out visiting family. My extended family still lives in rural West Virginia, and there are hundreds of opportunities for collecting out there. We always try to give ourselves a couple of extra days to see what we can find when we visit out there, and since it’s the holidays, we call our friendly neighbors and schedule a day with them to guarantee they will be there.

There are always about five or six places that we hit every single time we go out there, but all of the others we’ll only visit once maybe twice. I try not to get business from my own family, but do let them help us search from time to time.

We were hitting a couple of places we had never been to this time, and boy did we get lucky. Most of the furniture hardware was on the more modern side, but that doesn’t make it that less valuable. All of it still carries a uniqueness that is hard to duplicate, and we know that there are some people that need an extra of whatever it is, and we are here to provide it for them.

Take this Craftsman Style Entryway Set for example. Yes, it’s a simple brass construction that could be seen on any dresser today, but it has a certain weight and aesthetic appeal that can’t be duplicated by a machine. It was hand forged, and that always provides a quality and has a certain appeal that can’t be found in other pieces. It is simple – and in the simplicity lies the beauty.

This piece will only be offered in the original bronze that we found it in, and that’s because that’s just how it looks best. We don’t like to improve on things that don’t need it! We can also (eventually) offer this item in other patinas – including polished brass, antique brass, polished chrome and more. Look for it online at www.LookInTheAttic.com soon.

This is another great little knob from the thrift store, and the last salvageable piece we found there. While there were still many other items in our boxes, the majority of them will need lots of work before the can be posted on this blog, or even be considered to replicate and be put up for sale. We’ll see in a couple of months what comes of the rest and let you know!

This is a very simple piece that features five daisy like flowers; one at each of the poles and the last in the center. Almost like a medieval sign or escutcheon. I’ve shown this piece to my friend that has so graciously lent us her sunflower door knob, and she is anxious to get her hands on several of these for her closet doors. She actually had a few doors that were not adorned with flowered knobs!

The best part about this piece is that it will work very well in bronze, as well as copper, and may even look decent in cast iron – but you do lose some detailing when you sand cast with iron. I’m not too sure about the last one yet; we’re going to do a test piece and see how it looks and how well it sells. Of course, just like any of our other pieces, it will take some time to clean this one up well enough to make a mold of it. It may look really shiny, but there is still quite a lot of dirt and grime stuck in the cracks that we will have to extract.

You would be surprised how difficult it is to clean between the itty bitty teeny tiny bumps that add a decorative element to the background of this door knob. We’re going to have to break out our old tooth brushes to scrub some of it out!

Here’s another great find from the box of stuff we found at the thrift store. There were only a few items that weren’t door knobs, and this is one of them. We don’t often find door plates on our hunts. It’s not because people don’t use them, they obviously do. They are either too damaged, or the owners just don’t want to part with them. Door knobs are much more likely to be replaced. They are smaller, easy to switch out, and far cheaper than replacing the door plate, locking mechanism, and door knob.

This piece would be beautiful on any door in any house. It’s clean lines, basic design make it an ideal piece to complement any door knob that you currently own, or may own in the future. Better yet, the design is so versatile we can re-cast it any metal and it will still look great.

I think this piece will do especially well in cast iron. It helps to increase its versatility and will widen the range of options for ideal placement in any home. Replacing door plates and door knobs are great ways to add a fresh sense of style to an otherwise bland room. It’s also a very cheap way to update a room.

We always appreciate finding pieces like this. It makes it easier to sell them, since they can appeal to a wider audience. We commented on how well this will do in cast iron, but we also believe it will do really well in copper too. Bronze will be kind of iffy, even though that’s the original metal used. It just doesn’t do the piece justice.

This is one of the most unique pieces we have ever found throughout our years of travels, and we didn’t even mean to find it! This is one of many pieces from the estate sale in Charlotte that we unknowingly purchased. I believe this is made of pewter, but still have some cleaning to do before that can be determined.

We originally had this piece in the garbage pile, thinking that all of the dents and the coloring meant it was an extremely cheap piece that wasn’t taken care of at all, but one of our young interns saw the true beauty of it and salvaged it without our knowledge.

She spent days cleaning it, literally. There was so much dirt and debris caked into it, it’s no surprise we were going to throw it away. She brought to our attention that the small roundish indentations that covered the majority of the piece were hand struck on there. The rest of the design, the circle around the center and the polished ridges, were crudely done, suggesting this is either the work of a brand new metal worker, or a piece over two hundred years old.

The weight of this piece is fairly light, but seem to have some durability, so we’re thinking it’s pewter. We could try melting it on a stovetop (but that would be a one-way test). It may in fact be silver, but if that is the case it will take months of scrubbing and polishing to bring out the true shine of the metal.

We’ll settle for whatever we can get! This will be recast in all available metals, including copper, bronze, and cast iron. We’ll keep you up to date when we determine what the original metal is!

Man I love my job – this is so much fun – finding America’s history. Another great find from the West Virginia church yard sale! This is the backdrop for our recently featured Iron Cross Door Knob piece. Yes, I realize they are made of two different metals, but hey, that wasn’t our decision!

Bronze Door Plate

Regardless of that minor detail, they blend beautifully and add a touch of mystery when combined. The title of this piece is the best description we could possibly come up with. It’s really more of an artist’s interpretation of the church windows from whence it came. It was clearly crafted just for that building; it’s a perfect miniature of the windows, complete with framing.

Many people may not have originally realized that this door plate is bronze, since it has developed a patina over the surface. In fact, the only area you can truly see the bronze itself is wear it has been covered up by the door knob for years.

We will hold true to the original design and re-cast this in bronze. Being the creative individuals we are, we will also make a piece in copper, as well as cast iron so that it may coordinate with the door knob of your choosing, especially with the Iron Cross door knob.

There is plenty of room for a modern locking mechanism on this piece as well, making it ideal for anywhere from a front door to an office door. If you are not interested in installing a lock, it will still be a wonderful conversation piece. The door plate’s classic style more than makes up for any missing element.

The best part about this piece is that it is such a unique shape that it will appeal to any style or personality type. It will camouflage itself if you don’t want it to stand out, or will be a conversation piece in an otherwise simply decorated room. It’s a chameleon piece!